Report highlights 2 Egyptian projects among major clean energy ventures in N.Africa
A report by Energy Capital & Power highlighted two Egyptian projects – Suez Wind Power ...
Egypt tops EBRD’s 2023 investments in SEMED with €1.3 bn funding for 16 projects
- 96% of EBRD’s investments in Egypt allocated for private sector
- 63% of EBRD’s 2023 investments aimed to provide economic opportunities for young people and women
- EBRD continued to support Egypt’s green transition by issuing a senior secured loan of up to $ 100 million to Red Sea Wind Energy
Egypt led the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) 2023 investments in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, with new commitments to 16 projects totaling almost €1.3 billion.
Sixty-nine percent of the Bank’s investments in Egypt were in the country’s financial sector, while 63 percent had a gender and inclusion focus. Ninety-six percent of its investments in the country were in the private sector.
The Bank also disbursed a record €900 million-plus in Egypt in 2023 to support the implementation of key infrastructural projects and to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), bringing its total disbursements to €5.7 million since the start of its operations there in 2012.
Under Egypt’s country platform for the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE), the Bank continued to support Egypt’s green transition by issuing a senior secured loan of up to $ 100 million to Red Sea Wind Energy, which consists of up to $ 50 million from the EBRD and up to $ 50 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in favor of Red Sea Wind Energy.
The loan will fund the development, construction and operation of a new 500 MW onshore wind farm located in the Gulf of Suez area.
The EBRD is also mobilizing technical assistance – including a just transition approach and a decommissioning master plan – for the permanent closure of 12 thermal power plants and supporting the country’s renewable energy expansion, for instance, through an action plan to develop green supply chains and institutional support for grid strengthening.
Another key private-sector investment was the EBRD’s, as part of a co-financing arrangement with a consortium of international investors, to develop the superstructure of a second container terminal in Damietta Port.
The investment will include additional support to create gender-inclusive jobs by delivering a skills development program for people living in the Damietta region, in partnership with local vocational schools, with a focus on women’s participation in the workforce.
To foster a more inclusive economy in Egypt, 63 percent of the Bank’s 2023 investments aimed to provide economic opportunities for young people and women.
Under its Youth in Business (YiB) program, the EBRD provided a loan of up to EGP 200 million (equivalent to about €6 million) to Reefy Micro-Finance Enterprise Services, the first licensed microfinance institution in Egypt and one of the country’s largest microlenders. The funds will mainly support private microenterprises led or owned by entrepreneurs under the age of 35, with a special focus on borrowers located outside of Cairo and Alexandria.
Under the EBRD’s small business advisory program, supported by the European Union (EU), 550 Egyptian small enterprises received advisory services and training.
Continuing its support for the SEMED region in 2023, the Bank made more than €1.9 billion of new investments in 40 projects, 92 percent of them in the private sector
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